Gwynedd public toilet strategy

A report that will be considered by Gwynedd’s Cabinet sets out how the Council aims to ensure adequate public toilets across the county despite the continued budget pressures facing public services.

Like all of Welsh councils, Gwynedd has a statutory responsibility to assess the needs of the local community under the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017: Provision of Toilets. As part of this work, the Council has carried out public consultations on the matter seeking the views of residents, businesses and visitors who use the toilets.

Councillor Catrin Wager, Gwynedd Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Municipal matters said:

“We are very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to have their say on the matter. Those comments have helped us to prepare the local toilet strategy and the views submitted have shaped our aims for the future. In particular the need for clean and safe facilities, that we work in partnership to maintain public toilets and ensure that the facilities are easy to find.

“As a Council, we want to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of Gwynedd residents and provide adequate toilet facilities - despite the fact that the resources are becoming scarcer.

“I’m pleased to say that we have already started to deliver some aspects of the draft strategy and in particular working to highlight where toilets are located in the county. Members of the public are now able to use the map function on the Council website to find where the nearest public toilet is located.

“Our emphasis is clearly on making sure that Gwynedd has adequate provision for the future and that we can continue to work closely with a number of partners across the county. The fact is that there are more public toilets in Gwynedd than most counties across the country – 61 in total as well as 35 community toilets which are available in cafes, shops and businesses and 17 run by Snowdonia National Park. Thanks to partnerships forged with local Community, Town and City councils we have managed to keep the vast majority of these toilets open despite huge pressures to our budgets.

“It is particularly pleasing too in this tough financial climate that Gwynedd Council has been able to secure £300,000 of grant funding in recent times to deliver improvements at eight public toilets in the county. We will continue to seek such grant support in future and work with partners to attract funding to improve more facilities across Gwynedd.“

The Local Toilet Strategy that will be considered by the Council Cabinet on 7 May aims to:

Provide clean, safe, appropriately maintained facilities;

Maximise availability of toilets through Council partnership and other provision;

Publicise and promote toilet provision information through webpages and other media;

Ensure public awareness of toilet location, through good direction signage and individual facility information signs;

Assess the availability and distribution of facilities based upon demand;

Sustainable provision within the budget available.

The strategy which will be considered by the Cabinet draws attention to important developments in ‘Changing Places’ toilets for disabled people. The first of such facilities has recently opened at the newly refurbished Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway Station in Caernarfon.

Details about all Gwynedd toilets available to the public are now easily accessible on the map function on the Council website. Details are available about all Gwynedd Council, Snowdonia National Park and Community Toilets across the county: www.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/map